VANCOUVER, Washington. Analysts at Markets and Markets say they see the electronic warfare (EW) market reaching USD $25.36 billion by 2021 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.29 percent during the forecast period.

They say the growth is mostly attributed to the increasing number of wars and transnational conflicts,the emergence of cognitive EW technology, increased system reliability and efficiency from the introduction of traveling-wave tube (TWT))-based solutions.

Within the EW market the most dominant segment will be electronic support, which plays a key role in immediate threat recognition, Markets and Markets analysts say. Electronic support is used for intelligence gathering in tactical environments and is expected to continue its dominance over the next five years, they add.

The EW market essentially has been segmented and analyzed on the basis of four platforms namely, air, naval, ground, and unmanned, according to Markets and Markets. The ground-based platform segment currently dominates the overall market. However, the unmanned segment, analysts say, is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This growth is mostly due to the increased proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and their increased use by militaries worldwide.

The Asia-Pacific region is forecasted to grow at the highest CAGR in the EW market from 2016 to 2021, while the North American region dominates it today. Asia-Pacific's expected growth is mainly due to the region's huge population base, booming economy, increasing EW product funding/investments, international and domestic players on the APAC EW market, and a large number of research and development activities.